HENLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN [PROGRESS]

EXCELLENT EXAMINERS’ REPORT ON HENLEY’S PLAN

Please take time to read through the examiner’s report hereunder. Stratford District Council have offered to carry out the small amount of amendments so the plan will be complete and correct in time the referendum in early Spring.

Beaudesert and Henley in Arden NP Examination Report – FINAL Feb 2024

HISTORY 

Following a meeting with SDC at Elizabeth House on Monday 18th last. There is much confusion at Stratford in terms of progress of both the economic and local plans which is troubling as our own NDP is running paralllel with such considerations. We understand that there are staffing problems and a need to bring new political members up to speed. No firm dates of meetings or publications were offered by SDC. The JPC then pressed for our own plan to proceed to Reg. 16, by removing a small number of obstacles set by SDC.

In view of these vitally important milestones being delayed at District, the JPC did not feel disposed to consulting residents until such time as as more detail can be passed to them.

Sadly, the meeting on the 14th of Ocober planned to take place at the High School, will be postponed until further data is available at Elizabeth House.

The formal announcemnt on this postponement is displayed below and will be published  in the next Henley Focus.

PLEASE COME ALONG TO THE ORDINARY MEETING AT THE MEMORIAL HALL MONDAY 2ND OCTOBER NEXT

 

The JPC Planning Committee have been in constant dialogue with SDC since the submission of Reg. 15 and the following was minuted at the last Ordinary Meeting on Monday 3rd last.

Cllr Clark briefly summarised the current position with the NDP and its submission to SDC under Regulation 15.

“That the JPC had received good news that SDC had now recommended the NDP be screened out of the SEA/HRA process. It will now go for a three week consultation process with Historic England, Natural England and the Environment Agency to confirm they agree with the conclusions of the report which, as the plan was virtually unchanged, should receive favourable comments allowing it to go forward to the examiner, so all was on track.” 

COMING SOON –  REGISTER YOUR INTEREST IN NEXT CONSULTATION

There is still much to do in the interim period whilst the plan is out for consultation. Please watch this space as the JPC Planning Committee may soon provide news of another consultation, similar to the successful event earlier this year. This time it will be initiated by a request from the JPC  for residents, businesses and local landowners to register their interest in participating and to briefly detail what they wish to add to the comments involving what vision they have for Henley in the future. The Clerk welcomes all comments which will be passed to the Committee in preparation for this next important public consultation.

THE PLAN HAS BEEN SUBMITTED!

After many months of intensive research and consultations, the REG. 15 Henley Neighbourhood Plan, Version 11, has been submitted for review by SDC. Over the next few days ALL of the supporting documentation and correspondence attendant to this important project will be posted on this page and the JPC Councillors will be happy to answer any queries you may have about the process. We list these items below under two headings, CORRESPONDENCE and SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS, but first, an opportunity to see the fruit of the JPC’s labour, a glimpse at the Version 11 copy of the plan to download or print [only if absolutely necessary]

V11 NDP

BEAUDESERT & HENLEY IN ARDEN NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN SUBMISSION  JUNE 2023

CORRESPONDENCE

REG-15_SUBMISSION LETTER _30.05.2023

buckland letter-NDP-30_05_23

careford letter-NDP-30_05_23

ndp-louisa_slator_jpc-30-05-23

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

CONSULTATION STATEMENT 

REG 14_NDP_SUMMARY OF COMMENTS

PRE & POST 2021 CONSULTATION STATEMENTS ANNEX 1 & 2 TO THE NDP

CONSULTATION STATEMENT ANNEX 1 [PRE 2021]

CONSULTATION STATEMENT ANNEX 2 [POST 2021]

Minutes of the AGM, 15th May 2023, where whole Council approved the submission copy of the NDP [Minute M9.4]

MINUTES – 15.05.2023 JPC ANNUAL MEETING

ARCHIVED DATA

THE NDP TEAM 2013-2023

Despite a lack of direct publicity and contact from the SWLP Cabinet in the introduction of the Scoping Exercise Consultation and more latterly, the Options and Issues, the SWLP questionnaire is now inevitably subject to a very short window of response. THEREFORE, there is now a greater need than ever before, for a solid Neighbourhood Development Plan [NDP] to be in place.

It is the only legal device available to a community in upholding its standards for the selection, construction, quantity, and nature of development within its boundaries.

The Henley NDP was constructed by a team of volunteers back in 2013, their efforts took a large number of hours and years to produce. In 2019-20, their Regulation 14 Edition was submitted to SDC for comment and returned with a large number of actions to be conducted before any further consideration would be given by the inspectors.

A number of the original team were understandably disappointed by this and the effort to update the plan fell mainly to the JPC who, at that time, had no real experience with such documents and were further hampered by the pandemic with all its problematic areas of communication.

Knowledge of the SWLP caused a fresh membership of the JPC to act quickly to reinstate this valuable publication and they immediately interviewed a small number of suitable candidates and engaged a professional NDP Consultant, Mr. Gary Kirk, who is now fully engaged with the JPC Planning Working Party in getting an acceptable version over the line by Autumn of this year.

Not one member of the JPC or, indeed, the public at large, has any doubt about the hard work put in by the original team and it is worth noting that approximately 85% of the original narrative and data within the plan has been retained! All the additional data SDC asked for will now be embraced in the new publication.

For those of you who are new to this worthy project, please click on the file below, where Version 10, the submission for Regulation 14 review, can be downloaded.

You will appreciate the endeavor of those residents who volunteered freely of their time to bring this publication to this advanced stage.

The JPC will keep the community fully updated with progress on both the SWLP and the NDP as we go forward into 2023.

BEAUDESERT & HENLEY  NDP v.10

REG 16 UPDATE 12TH OCTOBER 2023

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Neighbourhood Planning (General) Planning Regulations 2012 (as amended)

Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Neighbourhood Development Plan

Regulation 16 – Publicising a Plan Proposal

 

Notice is hereby given that Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Joint Parish Council as the Qualifying Body has prepared a Neighbourhood Development Plan entitled the ‘Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2031’ for their neighbourhood area with the help of the local community and has formally submitted the Plan to the Local Planning Authority for consideration.

 

The Plan sets out a vision for the future of the neighbourhood area and planning policies which will be used to determine planning applications locally. In accordance with Regulation 16 of Part 5 of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended), the Local Planning Authority must now publicise the draft plan for a minimum 6 week period inviting feedback from organisations and individuals on the Plan.

 

A copy of the Draft Plan and associated documentation can be viewed on the Council website at www.stratford.gov.uk/henleynp or at Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s offices, Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon and Stratford-upon-Avon and Henley-in-Arden libraries during normal opening hours. It is also available to view at Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Parish Council, 150 High Street, Henley-in-Arden during normal opening hours.

 

The consultation starts on Thursday 12 October 2023. Representations on the draft Plan may be made to the District Council by no later than 5pm on Friday 24 November 2023.

 

It is the responsibility of the District Council to collate all the representations and pass them on to the independent Examiner for the Plan, who will look at them and the plan documents when assessing whether the Plan meets the legislation and can therefore proceed to Referendum.

 

Any representations may include a request to be notified regarding the District Council’s decision, in accordance with Regulation 19 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

 

Yours faithfully

 

John Careford

Head of Development

CONSULTATION DOCUMENTS CAN BE VIEWED AT THE LIBRARY DURING OPENING TIMES

SUPPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

Henley’s Plan is back on track!

It’s official! Henley’s Local Neighbourhood Plan is now ready for public consultation.

The long and seemingly endless Plan-making process is finally coming to a climax. The people of Henley now have a chance officially to comment on the Plan after more than a decade to get to this stage. They can tell Stratford District Council (SDC) and the independent Examiner what they think of it.

 

They will also soon get to decide in a town-wide Referendum – the final stage in the process before the Plan’s adoption – whether the Plan describes how they want the town to develop until 2031. This Referendum could happen as soon as January.

Thanks to the determined efforts of the Joint Parish Council (JPC) – and barring any unforeseen circumstances ­– the latest Plan could be ‘made’ or formally adopted early in the new year with the support of Henley residents. At this point, the District Council must give the Plan significant consideration when decisions are made on planning applications within the Henley area.

 

‘Unforeseen circumstances’ were precisely what caused the JPC to postpone the ‘open morning’ they wanted to hold at Henley School last month. Through no fault of the JPC, the Plan’s progress got delayed.

But it’s now back on track, which is just as well as the Plan is vitally important for Henley’s future. Without it, Henley could be swamped with new housing popping up all around the town. It establishes a vision for the future of Henley and lays down planning policies as well as proposals for the future development and use of land in the area.

Central to the 50-page Plan is its vision: “to be a strong, inclusive and accessible community that supports the needs of new and existing businesses and residents of all ages … to utilise its unique landscape, history, leisure and tourism assets to offer a sustainable and thriving rural lifestyle for residents and visitors alike.”

New housing is addressed by the Plan, which supports “new small-scale opportunities for residential development within the existing Settlement Boundary to support local and district housing needs”. It is also in favour of “incremental growth through redevelopment of brownfield sites and/or infill sites”.

Local residents, businesses and organisations have been given six weeks to comment to SDC on the Plan. It’s SDC’s job to bring together the comments received and pass them onto the independent Examiner. The Examiner then decides whether the Plan is fit and proper, and ready to proceed to the final stage, namely the local Referendum.

The SDC consultation started on Thursday, 12th October 2023 and will run until Friday, 24th November 2023. Please make your comments to SDC at www.stratford.gov.uk/henleynp.

If you would like to view the Plan, it may be seen on the JPC’s website at https://henleyinarden.kinsta.cloud/neighbourhood-plan or in the Heritage Centre at 150 High Street during normal opening hours.

And please look out for notices about the Referendum in the coming months. Richard Clark, chair of the JPC’s planning committee, insists that your vote is crucial. “We need a good turnout and we obviously need as many ‘yes’ votes as possible,” he says. “The outcome will decide what becomes of Henley in the future.”

Meanwhile, the JPC should be holding a rearranged ‘open morning’ for residents to discuss the Plan. Watch this space…

Mike Rice

Liberal Democrat District Councillor for Henley-in-Arden

(mike.rice4henley@outlook.com; mike.rice@stratford-dc.gov.uk)

NDP & ECONOMIC PLAN UPDATES

[DEC-23, JAN24]

Please take time to read through the following exchanges and submissions [Reg. 16 internal and external consultation responses and SDC economic development plan]

LETTER PRESSING FOR SPEEDIER PROCESSING REG. 16

COVERING LETTER CONSULTATION RESPONSE BY JPC

RESPONSE REG. 16 INTERNAL CONSULTATION 

RESPONSE REG. 16 EXTERNAL CONSULATION  

ECONOMIC STRATEGY PLAN CORRESPONDENCE 07.12.2023

LATEST COMMUNICATIONS WITH SDC